melski94

Welcome to the message boards. I wish we could be of more help but many of us don't have experience cruising the Middle East. My one and only cruise in the Persian Gulf was a freebie, paid for by the US Navy 20+ years. I would suggest you go to the dreaded Cruise Critic message boards as they have some destination pages which may be what you need. Also Trip Advisor is another good site with some shore excursion reviews. One suggestion would be wear clothing acceptable to local customs. That doesn't mean head to toe coverings for your wife but things like sleeveless shirts and shorts tend to be frowned upon. Shirts with sleeves, a modest skirt or pants and pack a scarf to wear as a head covering for tours that take you into a mosque. Dubai is a mix of international and traditional people. It is very safe but politics in the region is constantly changing. For that reason, I would purchase Cancel for any Reason trip insurance so if you feel it would be unsafe you can get your money back with your cruise. If you are looking to buy any jewelry, gold and diamonds are some good buys. Just do your research prior to buying anything. Good luck!

Go to the MTD desk as soon as you board the ship and see if you can change your reservation time. That will make things less stressful however I've had the same experience as @ChessE4 where the wait staff will make every attempt to get you out early.

Here is a link to an updated height and weight limit. This says 75 pounds. The zip lines are strictly enforced and everyone is weighed. If you don't weigh enough, you could be stuck and not make it to the next platform. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/pdf/perfect-day-at-cococay-frequently-asked-questions.pdf

We've never done a shore excursion in San Juan. You can go to El Morro (walk or taxi) which is $7 per adult and my kids have enjoyed it and offers some great views. Then walk leisurely back through Old San Juan to the ship. The walk back to the ship is all downhill so it makes it a very easy walk through shops, etc.

The cruise planner is under the Royal Caribbean "already booked" tab. You'll need your reservation number. You should make any entertainment reservations and purchase any dining, beverage, internet or shore excursions.

I know $1000 is quite a bit of money but there are so many cons to 1 room. Think of the smallest hotel room you’ve stayed in and shrink that. With the pack and play and the couch made into a bed there really isn’t much room to even walk around. You and your spouse can’t have a conversation let alone watch tv if they go to bed early or nap. I personally wouldn’t do it but that’s just me.

Is your boyfriend over 21? If so, make him be the primary guest. It would be easiest to use a Travel agent and let them figure it out. It’s no cost to you and they can figure out the payments. If you are both under 21, you can’t cruise without someone 21 or over.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but that is the way RC works the cruise planner sales. The website sale is a % off the onboard price and they use creative advertising to say BOGO 50% off. The price you see advertised is the "sale" price for each person and is shown in the fine print. You are NOT purchasing a $52 drink package and getting the second for $26 (prices are an example as they vary by ship and sailing) but the sale price assumes the 25% discount from the onboard price.

For the most part Wifi is fine. Some rooms do have better reception than others but we've always had decent wifi in our stateroom. The key is to make sure you get Stream Voom and not just Surf. My husband almost always has to do some work to do on vacation. We've had a few cruises where we did have emergencies come up and no problem with Wifi. Suggest you make sure you allow your phone to make wifi calls. If you are only getting a 1 device package, look into @twangster travel router tips so you could use your cell phone and laptop at the same time.

Happy Anniversary! Following along as I'm in a major dry dock! We loved Symphony when we sailed for our anniversary in May.

Coco Cay is much less strict about the slides than the ship. I saw many people use Go Pros on Cococay slides. Typically the ship slides, including Harmony, won't allow you to take anything on the slides. No watches, jewelry, etc.

I was on Navigator and the shore excursion desk was willing to work on cabana location. I went on embarkation day to ask about our cabana. They originally assigned me one but then said they were trying to put adults only groups in one area and groups with kids in another. I wanted to be near the slides and we were assigned near Daredevils tower and were happy. Grandeur was also in port the same day as us so I'm not sure how they decide the cabanas between 2 ships.

We'll be doing Harmony on March with the Coco Cay, Roatan, Cozumel and Costa Maya itinerary. I was looking at an Oasis class ship and it was between Oasis and Harmony. The ports appealed to us more than the newly AMPD and at the time cheaper Oasis even though we've been on Harmony. My husband and kids love the ports and they are very excited to have 4 ports. We've been to 3 of the 4 ports but its been a few years for Roatan and Cozumel so excited to go back. I agree that many typical ship board activities are reduced but we only watch a few of them so it really isn't a big deal to us.

You could go to Playa Mia on your own for $30 USD (no food or drink) plus transportation. I am someone who avoids ship tours and have been there without a ship tour. We literally had an extra hour at the beach after the excursions left and we still returned to the ship 90 minutes prior to all aboard. Playa Mia is also very crowded with 7 ships in especially during lunch. IMHO, for $55 USD, go to Nachi Cocum. That is the only place that limits the number of guests to about 100. It is about $30 pp more (including a taxi) than the Playa Mia excursion but does include lunch and bottled water. This would really give you a quiet beach day.

I took the survey last night. It was a very interesting survey and they are looking at what you think of their new marketing plan for late nights at CoCo Cay.

I saw some adults doing the obstacles in the pool. Mostly kids but enough that you wouldn't be out of place. There are a few taller ropes for the lily pads that mostly older kids and adults did. There were some tables in between Daredevils tower slides that were shaded. At the bathrooms, go to the left but they were taken pretty early. However, you may want to camp out in the chairs by the obstacle course pool. That is between the 2 slide towers and that could be a convenient place for them to check in with you in between slides.

Not all ships have a teen registration but Harmony did. It was not at the same time as Adventure Ocean registration but around 5 pm (check the cruise compass) in the teen lounge. It isn't a big deal if you miss it as they will still allow you to register the first night. As others have said the first night is the most important night to go for the meet and greets. There will be a teen compass for the activities. My kids were in the hang out and roam the ship group too but I've seen others participate in the activities (teen flowrider, scavenger hunts, etc).

On Harmony, we were in a group of 7 but saw 2 groups that had 15-20 people. We all sat at the same tables each night. Here are the cakes provided on the cruise planner or you could purchase them at guest services. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/royalgifts/treats/cakes We bought it one night for my son's birthday and I checked with our waiter prior to dinner that night that they had the cake ready. The wait staff stored the cake because we couldn't finish it and brought it out the next night. You can always provide the decorations and ask your head waiter the first night for what you'd like. They may or may not be able to do it. Of course, if they can do it a nice tip would be appreciated.

I'm booked on the cruise with the family hopefully. Our school will release Spring Break dates in November. Fingers crossed it works out!

One advantage of the Key on Navigator is the priority for water slides. Navigator gives out a wrist band for the Key which basically allows you to push ahead of the line for the water slides. The slides lines can get quite long. I haven't heard this perk on other ships but it is on Navigator.

We did Wonderland on Symphony and while it was the best dessert I've ever eaten, I'm not sure I'd do it again. Nothing was bad, but nothing was amazing either (except dessert that was amazing). While my sailing could have been different, there were a ton of kids in the restaurant which didn't exactly make for a nice romantic dinner. I wasn't really impressed with the service. They made me feel like Wonderland was doing me a favor by allowing me to eat there. I agree with @Skid and would suggest 150 CP. A much better all around experience.

I was on Navigator in an aft balcony on Deck 10 in a JS last week. The balconies weren't refurbished. The balcony furniture looked newer.

The best thing is to buy it at a price you feel comfortable with and if it goes lower cancel it and rebuy it. The cheapest prices are not always available for every ship and every sailing. However, to give you an idea a decent price for the drink package is $49-$52. If you can get it at $47 or $49 then its a great deal but your sailing may not see that price. For internet, the cheaper prices are about $11.99 for 1 device. I tend to find the cheapest sales around Black Friday. That being said the prices are rarely cheaper than the above prices.

Also, if your ship has a Freestyle machine, you can fill up any bottle with just water. You don't need the soda cup for that.

We had a Thrill Island cabana on Navigator last week. I love the beach bungalows on Labadee but I don't know if I'd do it again. The cabana manager said Symphony and Harmony prices are MUCH higher than other ships. Our next cruise is on Harmony and the same cabana is $400 more so not worth it to me. BTW, don't do Thrill Island with kids your ages. IMO, a cabana on CocoCay is a luxury and one I wouldn't pay $900 for. If you get off the ship early, there are plenty of chairs under shade to grab. RC seems to be rerouting several cruises to CocoCay. Probably to get the maximum value out of their investment. This typically doesn't happen except for weather or other real reasons, but IMO lately its for profits. Our May cruise on Symphony was rerouted to Cococay too. The prices were expensive so we just made it a free shore day and it was great.